Gaston Gaudio continued his clay court dominance on Sunday by beating Spaniard Tommy Robredo 6-1 2-6 6-1 in the final of the Estoril Open to post his third ATP title on the surface this season.

The 26-year-old Argentine, who won earlier this season in Chile and Buenos Aires, improved to 20-3 on clay this season - second on the circuit to Spanish teenager Rafael Nadal's 23-1 mark.

"Obviously I'm very happy about winning this title," Gaudio said. "It gives me a lot of confidence especially coming so close to Roland Garros."

Gaudio needed just 35 minutes to take the first set and lost just 13 points in the deciding set.

"I tried to step into the court more today and be more aggressive, because it occurred to me the other day that I was just standing at the back, doing a lot of running and it was not doing anything," Gaudio said.

"In the second set today, Robredo was the one hitting hard and making me run, so in the third set, I took the opportunity to be more aggressive and go for my shots, go for the lines, and that's what made the difference."

Since winning his first Grand Slam title in Paris last year, Gaudio has reached the final in seven of his past 10 clay court tournaments.

Robredo, who reached the semi-finals at Dubai earlier this year, was looking to celebrate his 23rd birthday with his third career title.

He advanced to the final when top-seeded Carlos Moya of Spain was forced to retire in the second set because of a right shoulder injury.

"Today the key to the match was early in the third set," Robredo said. "Gaudio was up 40-0 in the first game and I came back to deuce but lost it and then lost my serve to love in the next game.

"I was playing really well at that stage, having just won the second set, and if I had broke him in that first game, it could have been different."

In the women's final, unseeded Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic beat fourth-seeded Na Li of China 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-3.